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Sanzhar Zakirov has been one of the breakout contenders in the strawweight division in recent times.
The 21-year-old has proven that he has tons of potential and with his unique style, he's an incredibly exciting new arrival. His winning streak of ONE Friday Fights announced his arrival in the promotion.
The fighter from Uzbekistan recorded two impressive finishes and a victory on the scorecards to put together a three-fight winning streak. Due to his current momentum, Zakirov earned a big step-up for his next fight, which took place at ONE Fight Night 27.
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Not only would he get the chance to showcase his skills at a major event inside Bangkok's Lumpinee Stadium, but he also took on a veteran competitor under the ONE banner.
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Tatsumitsu Wada is an experienced fighter, who during his time in the flyweight division, has faced some of the best fighters in the weight class including the greatest of all time, Demetrious Johnson.
Sanzhar Zakirov was able to get his hand raised in a testing fight but rather than being too critical of himself, he was happy to have come away with the win against a seasoned opponent, as he spoke about in a post-fight interview with the Bangkok Post:
"Yes, definitely. He's a very experienced fighter. He also almost won against Demetrious as well, and yeah, he's got a lot of experience."
Check out the full interview below:
Sanzhar Zakirov will benefit massively from this experience
Sharing the ring with more experienced opponents is only going to benefit the growth and development of Sanzhar Zakirov.
Competitors like Tatsumitsu Wada aren't going to be intimidated or overwhelmed by their opponent's momentum.
The Japanese contender knows how to win and that meant he could push Zakirov in ways that his other opponents couldn't.
At just 21 years old, facing and beating an opponent like Wada will be invaluable for Zakirov and his trajectory at strawweight.
North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can rewatch all the action from ONE Fight Night 27 via the free event replay.
